Halifax council votes in favour of convention centre deal

It’s official: Halifax will be getting a new convention centre.  

Halifax Regional Council voted in favour of a new deal between the province of Nova Scotia, the city of Halifax and the developer today, which means ground will soon be broken on the project.

But not everyone is happy about the decision.

“A lot of people were expecting, because it took so long to finalize this deal, that we’d see an increase in cost to taxpayers,” says Kevin Lacey, a spokesperson for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.

However, the city says that isn’t the case. Increased property taxes will pay for the centre’s $6-million annual cost, but the city says the overall taxpayer price tag is the same amount forecasted 16 months ago.

Lacey says that is good news, but he still has concerns.

“The economics of the project simply do not make sense,” he says. “This is going to cost taxpayers millions in money that will come out of healthcare, education and tax reduction.”

Lacey says those are red flags, and even though he agrees something needs to be done with the vacant city block that will eventually house the convention centre, he says the city shouldn’t be using tax dollars.

“What we would have liked to have seen was the private sector step up and use this area to build a private sector facility,” says Lacey.

He also believes that could have resulted in more tax revenues for the city and province, combined with minimal government investment.

Judy Haven agrees.

“I don’t quite understand why the city would pay for something which is what a private developer wants,” says Haven, a member of Coalition to Save the View, an organization that opposes the convention centre.

Finances aside, Haven says the project is a bad fit for the look and culture of downtown Halifax.

“There’s no law that states what had to be built there, had to be a 14 and 18 storey glass tower,” she says. “It could have been used for any number of things.”

The decision also wasn’t unanimous at today’s meeting, where five councillors voted against the deal.

The convention centre will be part of a larger complex - the $500-million Nova Centre - which includes a hotel, office tower, retail shops and restaurant space. It is expected to be finished by Jan. 2016.

With files from CTV Atlantic's Paul Hollingsworth